William Evan Johnson won an award for his work through the PITF program.
The Presidential Instructional Technology Fellows (PITF) program, which is funded by the Provost's Office, encourages the widespread use of computer-based educational tools pioneered at the University. HSPH faculty and students alike can propose projects via the Microlab. To submit a proposal, email microlab@hsph.harvard.edu.
This year, HSPH fellows created or revitalized online content for courses such as "Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology," "Multilevel Statistical Methods," and "Health Promotion through Mass Media."
One of these projects, undertaken by HSPH doctoral student William Evan Johnson, won an Award for Achievement in Instructional Technology from the Office of the Provost. Johnson was recognized by the University at a PITF program dinner on May 18.
As a fellow, Johnson used Harvard's new iSites Course Website Tool and the iCommons Poll Tool to aid communication between Assistant Professor of Biostatistics Shirley Liu and her students in the class "Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology." Liu said that she wanted to provide more resources for this graduate-level course, which introduces students to computational biology's algorithms and data analysis methods. The class, for which no textbook exists, was taught for the first time at HSPH in 2005. The complex and quickly expanding discipline of computational molecular biology encompasses such issues as sequence alignment, gene annotation, and microarray analysis.
To do his project, Johnson used a new iSites courseware that Harvard is rolling out to all Schools this year to incorporate online feedback and learning assessments as central components of the course. After every class, students were asked to answer two five-question polls. One poll evaluated the lecture for elements such as importance and difficulty. The other measured student comprehension of the lecture.
"This feedback allows the professor to see which topics are unclear to the students," noted Johnson. Students also used iSites courseware to hand in homework assignments and take the final exam online.
To beef up course resources, Johnson teamed up with Liu and teaching assistant Jess Mar to identify "classic" bioinformatics literature, as well as new studies and papers as they emerged. Johnson created links to these readings from the course web site. He also made links to each of Liu's lectures, which were all videotaped.
"This course will have a tremendous impact on biological and medical research in the Harvard community," said Johnson, "since the topics addressed are essential for studying complex diseases such as AIDS, cancer, and diabetes."
While Johnson toiled with html code, another student in the PITF program, Rebecca Firestone, developed a manual for "Multilevel Statistical Methods," a course in which students learn to use software called MLWiN to calculate how environmental and other macrolevel factors affect individual health. Firestone, a doctoral student in health and social policy, was recruited as a fellow by SV Subramanian, assistant professor of society, human development, and health. Firestone edited the manual and tested its instructions against the statistical modeling software.
"I'll use MLWiN for my dissertation," said Firestone, who sees a growing role for multilevel statistical analysis in public health research.
In another HSPH course, "Health Promotion through Mass Media," Shalini Tendulkar of the PITF program worked with Associate Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health Vish Viswanath. "The school is creating a new health communication concentration," explained Tendulkar, a doctoral student in human development, "so we're creating a web site to provide articles, research reports, data sets, and links to a variety of resources."
Tendulkar served as the link between the technological and content sides of the new web site. "The collaborative nature of the project was a huge draw for me," said Tendulkar, who worked with the School's IT Department, Microlab, and faculty. "Everyone was great to work with, but I couldn't have gotten far without Fred Sheahan [the Microlab's applications support specialist], and Amy Cohen [manager of the Microlab]."
"Everyone benefits from the PITF program," said Cohen. "It gives students an opportunity to work on a professional level with faculty. And faculty receive concrete support for curriculum development." She noted that HSPH students have usually taken the courses prior to becoming fellows, "so they bring that perspective of having been on the other side of the teaching experience. This helps make courses more accessible."
—EM
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
